Paxton Fest 2 Mile Run Results

Saturday morning was slightly chilly, temperatures in the upper 50's and cloudy. There was no wind to speak of. rain was in the forecast, but no until later in the afternoon. My sons were both sick with the flu and stayed home for this race. I arrived in Harrisburg around 8:00 am. The packet pickup was in the basement of the six story brick building. The Paxton House is an assisted daily living facility for people of all ages.

I was very impressed with the goodie bag for this race. The race bibs were attractive Reebok race bibs. I was #285 for this race. A live band was playing and there was an overall festive atmosphere for the race.

Many of the residents of the home were in attendance. Personally, seeing the residents humbled me and made me feel more grateful for what my family and I have in terms of health.

Because I had altered my running style during training to minimize the groin pain I had been suffering from since Labor Day, I found myself with a left calf muscle which was very stiff. The muscle felt like there was a knot tied in the muscle. I was able to stretch and warm up the calf muscle sufficiently to run. I was hoping the muscle would relax as I ran.

This was a smaller race, maybe a hundred runners. I was excited to run this race because it was a shorter, less physically demanding race. I have become more physically fit this year, but need to work on my longer distance conditioning next year.

Typically when I run I see the lead runners for a few hundred yards and then they disappear into the distance ahead of me. This was the second race where I was able to hang near the front of the pack for about a half mile.

I tried to hold back slightly for the first mile, but the majority of it was downhill. I ran the first mile of this race in 6 minutes and 43 seconds, some 10 seconds faster than my one mile Milller's Mutual race in mid July. The first and last half miles of the race are run on roads while the middle mile is run through a small park. All of the route is paved.

I ran the second mile in 7 minutes and 46 seconds. The last mile is a small uphill climb. Once again I tired at the end, but I managed to eclipse my pre-race goal time by one second, finishing at 14 minutes and 29 seconds. This equates to averaging 7 minutes and 15 second per mile. I finished 21st in this race, my best place showing of the year.

After the race there was a prize raffle. I won the first prize drawn, a basket of good from the Hershey Pharmacy. One of the items within the basket was a game where you arrange words printed on magnets to make unique sentences. My eldest son Dylan loved this game.